This Technicolor lithograph, which is titled “Tiger Lil” and was printed by Champion Line, shows Neva Gilbert, a Playboy model who was the magazine's July 1954 centerfold. The litho, which also dates from 1954, is generally identified as originating with Playboy, but it actually came from a group of photos first owned by the Baumgarth Calendar Company. Back then Hugh Hefner often paid outside photographers for images. For that reason it's possible the photo is pre-1954, but if so, not by much.

Gilbert herself had forgotten about the shots. She was busy trying to establish an acting career and never saw her own centerfold until 1979. She had no idea Hefner had culled some shots for Playboy. In fact, she had no idea what Playboy was until someone told her she was in it. Speaking of culling, we are not fans of killing rare animals to turn into gaudy home decorations, but we imagine that if you had one of these on your floor back then they greatly increased your odds of a woman doing exactly what Gilbert has done. The Pulp Intl. girlfriends doubt it, but they always do. And of course, we want to prove them wrong. Anyone got an extra tiger rug they want to sell?

The first Scientology church, based on the writings of science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, is established in Los Angeles, California. Since then, the city has become home to the largest concentration of Scientologists in the world, and its ranks include high-profile adherents such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

1933—Blaine Act Passes

The Blaine Act, a congressional bill sponsored by Wisconsin senator John J. Blaine, is passed by the U.S. Senate and officially repeals the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, aka the Volstead Act, aka Prohibition. The repeal is formally adopted as the 21st Amendment to the Constitution on December 5, 1933.

1947—Voice of America Begins Broadcasting into U.S.S.R.

The state radio channel known as Voice of America and controlled by the U.S. State Department, begins broadcasting into the Soviet Union in Russian with the intent of countering Soviet radio programming directed against American leaders and policies. The Soviet Union responds by initiating electronic jamming of VOA broadcasts.

1937—Carothers Patents Nylon

Wallace H. Carothers, an American chemist, inventor and the leader of organic chemistry at DuPont Corporation, receives a patent for a silk substitute fabric called nylon. Carothers was a depressive who for years carried a cyanide capsule on a watch chain in case he wanted to commit suicide, but his genius helped produce other polymers such as neoprene and polyester. He eventually did take cyanide—not in pill form, but dissolved in lemon juice—resulting in his death in late 1937.

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